So this was obviously not the next day. I had a lot of this done but I couldn't get my action scene up to snuff and so this took so much longer because I just let it go for a while. Today I decided to just finish it up and move along. Action scenes were never my strong suit to begin with especially with very little changing motions. I say this fully understanding that most of this show is action sequences with some talking scenes splattered in between. All that truly matters is that I give you is my best and an ending at some point. So I give you part 2 of this episode. Onward!
Current Timeline, Jay Garrick, 2014. Tuesday 2:15 pm
Jay entered the precinct for the second time that day. A sea of blue uniforms filled the precinct as they traveled from room to room. Phones rang loud, shouts from commanding officers muddled together, the spirit of protectors bathed the atmosphere. He relished the feeling as he watched for maybe a minute before making his way. He knocked on the door of Det. West.
"Come in," he said, not bothering with looking up at the person who walked in. "Officer Spiviot, if the task force is going to be made, you will be the first one I call. Now, unless you have something regarding one of these cases I'm on, you need to get back to work."
"Detective," Jay cut him off kindly.
He looked up at the sound of a different voice. He smiled as he saw Jay give him a small wave. "My apologies man," he shook his head. "I've been a little stretched lately. Can I help you with something? Barry should be around here somewhere if that's who you're looking for."
"No, no, I actually came here to see you," he answered, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Now before you ask, no, I didn't do something stupid. However, We found out we were right. The man you're looking for turns into a toxic gas. I was at the mall where the guy attacked the lady and I managed to get a picture of him."
"Mmm, How do you know this is him?" Det. West asked him.
"The reason I got this picture was because the red superhero was distracting him," he told him honestly before moving into a well-rehearsed lie, "I got this almost right before he turned into the gas. I wasn't near him when he turned into gas."
"Now, you know that when you see someone like this you're supposed to get out and call the police right?" he questioned him before he took the phone and looked at the photo. His face went slack as he stared at the picture. It took him several seconds before his face changed to urgency. "You're sure this is the guy?" he asked him in a way that told anyone just how serious this was.
"A hundred percent sir," he responded, seeing the situation had changed. "Just how dangerous do you think this guy is?"
"Walk with me," he told him as he took his arm, ushering him out of his office and outside the building.
Caitlin Snow, Tuesday 2:15 pm
Caitlin was walking over to the main area after completing another batch of the antidote from the gas sample from Barry. Cisco was pulling up articles and reports from the main console onto the screen. "Cisco?" she called as she went over to him. "What's all this?"
"This is what I found on the guy Jay took the picture of," he said as he moved a few pieces around.
"Jay got a picture of our meta-human?" she asked him, looking for a picture on the screen.
"He did," Dr. Wells confirmed as he came out of the hallway. "Thanks to that, we were able to run his picture against others in the police department's system."
"Meet Kyle Nimbus," Cisco introduced them to his mugshot. "Not only does he match the picture but his timeline checks out as well. See, this guy was a hitman for the Darbinyan crime family before he got caught. They turned on him and testified."
"The first group killed, the Darbinyan family," Dr. Wells elaborated.
"Yes, and the judge of that trial was Judge Theresa Howard," Cisco continued.
"The woman at the mall," Caitlin pieced in.
"Exactly, now, Kyle Nimbus was scheduled to be executed on the night of the explosion. He was supposed to be killed in a gas chamber. Except, instead of dying by it, he turned into it," Cisco concluded.
"That makes sense as to why it didn't his DNA didn't come up when Detective West ran it through the system. They assumed he was dead, therefore, they took it out of the system," Caitlin said as she leaned back against the wall. "So how do Jay and Barry fight this thing and then how do we keep him from escaping?"
"Cisco and I have completed constructing a containment unit," Dr. Wells informed her.
"As for how we fight them," Cisco began, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "I was babysitting my nephew, Bento, who is obsessed with this show called Ninjago. In one of the episodes I saw, they used a technique, fighting without fighting. Essentially, you use the other person's attacks to tire them out."
"Gas is the least stable form of matter, he should tire out rather quickly and need to revert back into a solid so his particles can reform," she worked around Cisco's idea.
"Cisco, have you looked at who else was a part of Mr. Nimbus's case?" Dr. Wells inquired. "We might be able to figure out his next target."
"Um, let's see," he pulled up the police file. "According to this, oh! The arresting officer was a Detective West, oh boy."
"I gotta call Jay," Caitlin panicked, running towards her phone.
"I'll pull up the GPS in his suit!" he yelled to her as they ran in different directions.
"Come on Jay, pick up," she pleaded quietly to herself. If there was one person around here that listened to her, it was Jay.
Jay Garrick, Tuesday, 2:22 pm
"I know that guy," Det. West told him as they continued walking. The two of them had been blending into the crowded streets of Central City for the past five minutes. Neither of them had said a word to each other since they'd left the department. Jay didn't even know where they were going but it didn't matter. Wherever Det. West was taking him, there had to be a plan. "I put that guy away a long time ago. How is he even alive?"
"My best guess, he was exposed to some gas while the Star Labs particle accelerator went off," Jay offered. He was sure the group was working on it as they walked. "Caitlin's back at the lab working on some tests. I figured you would want to know about this."
"You got that right. Especially now that I know I'm the next target," he told him as they turned the corner.
"How do you know that?" he asked him as they came to the crosswalk.
"The guy killed his former partners, the judge on his case and all that's left is the cop that arrested him," he explained.
"So now that you know, what are we gonna do?" he asked him.
"I need you and your friend to get an antidote ready. I also need to know how to kill this guy when the time comes," he answered as they stopped at a light.
"We won't need that," Jay told him deadpanned. "Star Labs was kind enough to make a meta-human containment facility. They have a unit waiting for this meta-human customized for him. All we need to do is get him unconscious."
"That seems awfully convenient," Det. West said. The distrust was valid.
"Not really, they started working on this when they got wind of the meta. They want to do something to give back to the community after the disaster nine months ago," Jay explained as the light changed.
"Hmm, I don't know about this," he mumbled as the situation kept changing.
"You have a better idea?" he asked him, knowing full well that he didn't.
"Mmm, fair point," he relented.
Jay was about to say something else when his phone started vibrating. He pulled it out and found it was Caitlin. "It's Caitlin," he told him. "She might have something on how to take this guy down." Det. West nodded for him to take it. "Hey, got anything new?"
"Yes, You need to get Detective West out of there. He's the next person this guy is after," she told him, a small bit of panic slipping through the line.
"We're already out of the PCPD, we've been on the move for a little bit," he told her as Det. West moved him to take the next corner. He listened to Caitlin's grateful sigh of relief. He could just imagine exactly how she relaxed as she was once again knowing that everyone was okay.
"What do we do now?" Caitlin asked him, trying to figure out how to help without blowing their cover. "Where are you guys going?"
His head popped up as he realized he had no clue. He looked around for indications of where they were but they'd crossed into a part of town that he didn't recognize. "I, I have no idea," he answered, slightly nervous. "Hang on," he told her as he turned to Joe, "where are we going?"
"Have Dr. Snow meet us here," Joe wrote down an address on a piece of paper.
He looked down at the scribbled on piece of paper. He still didn't recognize where they were going. Not that much today hadn't surprised him. It didn't help that he still hadn't gotten her car back to her. He doubted that she was within walking distance. He would have to go pick her up, as soon as he found an excuse. "Caitlin, I'm sending you an address. We'll meet you there. It shouldn't be too much of a walk for you I think," he told her.
"Alright," she agreed hesitantly. He could hear her mind working out all the ways this could go wrong through the phone. "Jay?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," he assured her as they walked.
"Just, be safe," she sighed, the words on her tongue feeling far too familiar.
"Always," he promised. "I'll see you soon."
"In a flash," she joked dryly before they hung up.
Jay followed Det. West for another 15 minutes or so before arriving at a semi-small dark green and white house. It was bigger than Jay's first house but smaller than the Johnson's. He could feel family rush in like air as they entered the house. He could feel it in the way the house was set up, the amount of pictures on the walls, and the handmade items scattered throughout. It was very similar to the Johnson's indeed.
"Welcome to my place," Det. West told him as they walked through the front door. "We have a lot to talk about. How long until our good doctor gets here?"
"Shouldn't be too long," he told him. It wouldn't be, provided that he found a decent excuse to leave the detective's sight for a minute or two. He walked in towards the kitchen a little bit trying to come up with a plan. He needed something.
"Stay here," Det. West said as he put his hand on his gun. "I'm going to check upstairs. Don't open the door to anyone but your doctor friend. We don't know who we trust right now."
Well, that certainly worked. "Yes sir," he nodded to him. The detective nodded back to him before slipping silently up the stairs. He watched until he could no longer see him anymore before running out to Star Labs.
Caitlin Snow, Tuesday, 2:43
Caitlin checked the time again for the hundredth time since she'd walked outside. Her nerves ate away at her insides as she waited for a streak to appear in the distance. She shoved her phone into her pocket, trying to stop her from worrying about what was probably nothing. Jay was fine, she kept reminding herself. If anything had gone wrong, Cisco would be running out here to get her. She took a deep breath. One day she would be able to stop worrying so much. She took another deep breath as she tried to remember all the jams Jay had gotten out of by himself. Strangely, it seemed to help. Though it was nothing compared to the delight she felt as she saw an electric blue line come and place her best friend in front of her. She smiled back at his own 100-watt smile as they gave each other a quick hug.
"I'm so sorry about your car. I promise I will bring it back for you. Soon," he promised her as he let her go for the moment.
She couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "I'll hold you to that," she told him. "Right now, I think we need to take the express."
"Indeed," he agreed before lifting her into his arms with ease, and with that, they whooshed to the address he'd texted her.
They arrived just outside the door to a nice split-level home. The only thing missing was the white picket fence. It was very different from the apartment building she grew up in when she was a little girl. She found it even truer when she and Jay walked through the front door. It wasn't anything big but it was so cozy. She could feel the warm and trusting air as it wrapped around them. Something she hadn't felt in a place for a long time.
"Good," they turned in slight surprise to find Joe coming down the stairs. "You're here. We need to get started. Now, Jay here says you guys at Star Labs have some sort of containment unit that will hold this guy?"
"Yes," Caitlin confirmed as they all gathered around the kitchen table. "The only problem we have now is how to get him inside without asphyxiating."
"Best I've got, we do it while he's unconscious. Though that opens the question, how do we get him unconscious without breathing in the gas?" Jay followed.
"You guys have any gas masks back at your lab that can keep this guy out?" Det. West asked them.
"We do but even with the gas masks, it's not like you can fight a gas," Caitlin reminded them.
Det. West grumbled quietly as he started to slowly pace in a very small circle, "can we, I don't know, like vacuum him up or something? You know?"
"That would leave the possibility of him being sliced in half or doubling when he tries to reconstitute himself while half of him is inside. Either way, they're both options none of us want to explore. Not to mention that we would have no way of containing all that gas and he still might not even fall unconscious," Caitlin reported as she ran through the scenario.
"Okay so that means we need him in human form or to tire him out so that he has to reconstitute back into his original form," Jay deduced as he sat down in one of the chairs.
"So how do we do that?" Det. West asked them as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Well, gas is the most unstable of all matters," Caitlin started. "We just need to find a way to tire him out enough where he has to reform."
"How? It's not like I can outrun him or something," Det. West shook his head.
Both her and Jay's heads rose slowly as they realized the answer. It was simple enough. It would work. It would work even better when Barry was back up.
"You two got something don't you?" Det. West asked as he clearly knew the look both of them had on their faces.
"You can't outrun him no," Caitlin agreed with him.
"But you might not have to," Jay attached, "if we can get The Red-Blue Blur to help us."
"You want to involve different dangerous freaks and have them fight this dangerous freak," the detective asked, not liking any of this idea.
That struck something in her. The way he said that so naturally. The way he compared Jay and Barry to this serial killer was just not right. One of them was his son. She wouldn't let that stand. She started with the full intention of setting him straight, "they are not…"
"Not murderous ones at least," Jay interrupted her, giving her a look before continuing. "The ones we're talking about have been saving citizens, unlike the one you're up against. Besides, they are probably your only hopes of living a life without looking over your shoulder anymore."
They watched as he mulled this slowly over in his head. They watched him almost physically wrestle over what to do as he paced a little quicker in his circle. Finally asking, "if, if, we considered asking them for help, how would we even contact them for help?"
"We set a trap for both them and the serial killer," Jay smiled as his idea started to come together fully. "We set up some bogus operation in an abandoned area where you'll say you're alone. Let it leak out somehow so they both know. Then, they'll both be there and The Blurs can run him into exhaustion, and then we can take him to Star Labs where he can be locked up safely forever."
"Yes, we've seen both the speedsters confronting the man. We know they are going to want to take him down. All we have to do is set it up in an area where no one can get hurt in the process. We'll have everything we need to take him down as safely as possible," Caitlin confirmed as she gave the detective just a bit more reason for why the plan could work.
He grumbled again before beginning to pace once again, "I don't like this. There are too many variables. Too many things that can go wrong with this."
"All due respect detective," Jay began, "this is all we've got. We're three regular humans going up against a man that can kill us by turning into toxic gas. We need to use everything we can if we're going to survive."
He sighed and grumbled as he thought about his options.
Jay Garrick, Tuesday, 6:34 pm
"Jay, you there?" Caitlin asked through his com.
"Right here," he replied back as he settled in the car, waiting for The Mist as Cisco had coined him.
"Barry? How are your coms working?" Cisco asked him.
"Coming in clear," Barry told him, leaning against his window. "It is as dead as it was when we got here. No one is in the area."
"No signs of life inside the building either," Cisco reported.
"Just checking for the last time, both of you have your masks?" Caitlin asked them both.
"Yes, we're holding them now," Jay answered with a small smile.
"Now, we're just stuck playing the waiting game," Barry sighed, bored having done nothing productive for too long.
Jay couldn't help feeling a little bored himself. Most of the past four hours had been spent sitting, planning, convincing, and getting Barry caught up to speed. Being stuck in a van wasn't doing either any help since they both knew that The Mist would show up sooner than later. It also didn't help that neither of them had spent that much time with the other. Jay liked Barry. He was a good kid. He wanted to fight injustice, protect the innocents, he liked to think on his feet. Other than the fact that his mother was dead, he lived with Joe and Iris, he was a CSI specialist, and that he had come into contact with one or two of the Child Protection People, he really didn't know anything else about him. The two of them had similar backgrounds. More similar than he liked but he couldn't talk about it even if he wanted. He still remembered what Zoom had told him when he was 9. Which really stunk because he would have loved to compare and talk about the situations but even so, his had put him with the Johnson's and Barry's had left him an orphan.
The two of them sat there in silence. It wasn't that nice silence that he and Caitlin had sometimes when they just worked on their own things. This was just plain awkward. He had no idea what to talk about with him. It must have been the same for Barry since he looked just as awkward as he did. They took turns glancing at the unmoving clock and the empty road, shifting every tenth time or so.
Finally, Barry broke the silence, "Dude, are you as bored as I am?"
"So bored," he admitted as he leaned back against his seat.
"We have absolutely nothing to talk about," his head landed in his hands.
"Literally nothing," he agreed, setting his hat down on the dashboard.
"So, I've been wondering, well I mean Cisco and I have been wondering, what's up with you and Caitlin?" he asked genuinely.
"I would also like to know the answer to that," Cisco told him, reminding them that the coms were still on. "And you can answer freely because Caitlin stepped out for a moment and left her com with me."
"What are you guys talking about?" Jay asked them, suddenly regretting the change from awkward silence.
"Dude, you guys are always together," Barry told him like he was trying to call him out.
"I was here when she and Ronnie were here working together. They did not hug nearly as much as you two do," Cisco added.
"You two hug more than Iris and Eddie do and they're… in love," Barry shook the image out of his head.
"So are you two something and we all just missed the memo?" Cisco asked him.
"No, no, all we are is best friends," Jay tried to assure them. "We've known each other since we were in junior high. Though, we actually met in second grade. Did I at one time think we may be more? Sure, of course, you've met her. She's one of the best people on the planet. I may have had a crush on her at one time but it never went there and it probably won't ever go there. That doesn't mean I won't always be there for her. With everything that's happened to her, I'm just glad she's okay."
"Ugh, you are such a sap," Cisco groaned over the com.
"Seriously man, I think you oughta go for it," Barry agreed as he pulled off his hood to scratch an itch on his forehead.
"You guys are terrible," Jay sighed, looking back out at the empty… wait a minute. "Guys, I see him. That's him! Come on."
The two of them redonned their costumes and headed in after him. He reached the center of the building when Barry made their presence known.
"Kyle Nimbus!" he called out. He turned around to face them. All they could see was the annoyance that was all over his face. "You're done killing people."
"We both know that's not true," he told them.
"We're not gonna let you get away anymore," Jay told him, taking his stance. "It's time this ended."
"For once you're right," he agreed as he morphed into the toxic gas.
In a snap, their gas masks were on as they started heading away from the rolling fog of gas. The cloud behind them grew bigger as it nipped right on the edge of their heels. They kept a very close eye on it as they ran just fast enough to stay ahead of it.
"Just keep it coming at you," Caitlin told them. "He'll have to reform at some point."
"Any idea when that's going to be?" Barry asked her as they continued running.
"Not really, no," she answered honestly, frustrated she couldn't be more helpful.
Moments felt as if they slowed down with each step Jay took. He could hear each land and launch of his feet as they pounded against the pavement. It was nearly deafening as all he could do was run. With every second, he had to get faster and faster as rolling toxic fog billowed out farther and farther. He looked towards Barry. He wasn't looking at him but he was saying something. He couldn't hear him, the only proof he had was his lips moving in an indiscernible pattern. What was he saying? More importantly, why couldn't he hear it? He looked behind him. The fog was still a good distance behind him. There looked to be maybe three feet in between them. He shook his head trying to clear it of his worries. It didn't work. It got worse. The deafening sound of his footsteps were starting to fade… and nothing filled its place.
It kept getting quieter until there was nothing at all.
He looked back at Barry. This time he was looking at him. It looked like he was almost screaming something at him. He could see the anger filling Barry's eyes but he had no idea as to why. Something was very wrong. This was really bad. This didn't feel right. He needed to do something. "Hello?" he talked into his com. Nothing. "Guys? Can you hear me?"
Nothing. He looked back at Barry. His anger had turned to something more puzzled than anything.
"Something's going on," he told them, trying not to sound too freaked out. For all he knew, there was a malfunction in the com. "I can't hear you guys. I, I can't hear anything. Is something going on?"
"Jay," something spoke. It sounded calm. Though it definitely wasn't one of his friends. It sounded like something out of a dream. It sounded a little like Dr. Wells if his vocal range was a little higher. "Jay," it spoke again.
"Yes, I hear you," he answered, fear still coursing through him.
"You know you're not safe," it said slowly.
"What?" Where was that coming from? That was obvious. He was trying to outrun a cloud of noxious gas.
"We don't mean from Kyle Nimbus," it told him.
If whatever this was, was trying to scare him, it was doing a pretty good job of it. Not only was he may be deaf but now it could read his mind. Whatever this was certainly wanted to get his attention and it had. "What do you want from me?" he asked it, searching for whoever this voice was coming from.
"To warn you," it answered just as calmly as it had the last couple of times which only added to Jay's anxiety. "You're the only one that can hear us right now. Your friend, Barry Allen, will one day be able to hear us too. Today is not that day though. Stay alert. Be vigilant. You know something's wrong. Trust yourself. You know something's going to happen. Something bad. You can stop him."
Pain radiated through his ears. He couldn't help the growl of agony that slipped from him. Ringing surged through his ears until slowly he could hear the sound of Caitlin's panicked voice coming through the com in his mask.
"Jay? Jay? Can you hear me now? Jay?"
"I hear you," he let her know. Their sighs of relief matched as they realized everything was going to be alright. He started hearing the wind rushing around him, the crackle of his blue lightning at his feet, the sound of his labored breathing. His hearing was back.
"Thank goodness," Caitlin breathed unintentionally into her com.
"I found the problem," Cisco alerted them. "Your com was somehow muted. I turned it back on through a backdoor on our end. We shouldn't have any more problems."
"Except, we're running out of track," Barry informed them all as they began nearing the city.
Jay looked around. Up ahead, the road split into two, one going left the other going right. This might just do it. Going in different directions would at least do something. "Barry, in about fourteen seconds we're going to split up. That'll definitely weaken him. Take the right path. Are you ready?" he asked him.
"Yeah, I'm ready," he told him. "Are you sure this'll work out okay?"
"No, but I don't have any other ideas," Jay told him. "And unless we get him to reform soon, we won't be able to hang on much longer."
"Alright," Barry agreed after a little mulling over.
"Okay, three, two, one, now!" he told him right before they separated. They watched as The Mist split in two and followed them. "He took the bait."
"I can see him fading!" Barry told them.
The once thick green cloud began flickering as he was being pulled further and further apart. A scream ripped through the air as the gas had completely split apart. The molecules transformed back into their original form and the two of them watched the two halves of Kyle Nimbus launched in opposite directions. The body parts laid dead on the ground as the blood spilled from his ripped-off sides.
Jay's stomach churned. His chest tightened. His lungs felt like they were squeezing shut. Sick made him drop to his knees on the ground as he tried desperately not to throw up. His arms were numb but his feet felt like they were still moving. He could barely see.
"Jay! Barry! What's going on?" Cisco called through the coms. Jay could barely breathe, let alone speak. He clutched at his stomach as a particular large pain in his stomach rendered him even more immobile. His mouth tasted like rot. Any air he tried to take in felt like fire against his throat.
"He's dead," Barry told them what was going on. He was pale. His breathing was far more controlled than Jay's. He was practically vibrating as he tried to stay upright. "He split in two. I've seen dead bodies before but this is…, oh man it's brutal."
"Jay!" he heard as he realized Barry was reaching down to help him up. "We gotta get out of here!"
He was right. He needed to leave. He needed to get back. He needed to get out of here. His head was running millions of miles a minute and none of them were as coherent as getting out of there. He grabbed Barry's hand and pulled himself up. The two of them took a glance back at what never should have happened before racing back to Star Labs.
Caitlin Snow, Tuesday, 8:54 pm
Kyle Nimbus was dead. That's all she knew. She couldn't get anything else out of Jay or Barry. Both of them were barely speaking words but something happened. Something that shook both these men to their cores. She was about to try the coms again when wind gushed behind her. She turned to find Barry supporting Jay who looked like he was having a panic attack. "Jay," she called as she moved quickly to help him sit down. She first worked on wrenching off his gas mask before peeling Jay's sweat-through mask off his panicked face. "Did he inhale any of the toxins?" she asked Barry as she took off his helmet to try and help him breathe.
"No," he assured her, "it's his first time seeing a gruesome dead body."
Caitlin looked at Jay carefully as he was spiraling. She was about to try and pull him back to reality when Dr. Wells spoke, "Caitlin, contact Detective West and let him know that the problem has been dealt with. I'll look after Dr. Garrick."
"But," she tried to protest but was quickly thwarted.
"I'm sure the detective would like to know that his life is no longer in danger from this particular threat. This coming from anyone else would seem suspicious as no one else but you and Dr. Garrick have been in contact with him," he told her. "It might also help him to know what happened so he doesn't think we killed him on purpose."
She tried to find any reason but Dr. Wells put her phone in her hand and rolled over to Jay. Her heart twisted but she trusted Dr. Wells. He wouldn't do anything to hurt him. As much as she wanted to be there for Jay, she could trust him. She squeezed his shoulder and promised, "I'll be right back." She walked into the other room to call Joe.
Eobard Thawne, Tuesday, 9:00 pm
Dr. Jay Garrick.
Even the name felt wrong. Ever since he'd entered their lives, the papers had been changing dramatically throughout his time here. Quite frankly, it didn't make a lick of sense. In a paper he read, it said he worked with both Flash and Zoom. He was doing that. He had them on the right path to proving they could be heroes to themselves. Barry was following his predestined fate to a tee. Which made him wonder even more as to why Jay was carving new paths for himself every twenty minutes. Something wasn't adding up. At first, he'd thought it was Caitlin Snow who'd perhaps been changing the fate of Jay Garrick but after further examination, he'd found that it was the other way around. Dr. Garrick had melted Dr. Snow's metal walls too early which had changed her nearly completely thus changing her own destiny which had trickled into everyone else's predetermined destinies.
But what had changed that Dr. Garrick was carving out new paths? It was funny, at one point through all this madness, he'd been sure he was only supposed to train Barry Allen, not the two of them. Then something happened to make him remember that it was supposed to be them both. He still wondered about Dr. Garrick's life. He would look into him further with Gideon once this stop was over. Thankfully, he seemed to be recovering rather quickly. He would find out what was going on underneath the surface of this maddening doctor. This could not be allowed to continue.
He watched as Dr. Snow came back to tend to her Dr. Garrick. In the original timeline, she would still have been as cold as her name. Unfeeling, worried only about her science, working towards their goal of creating cures and treatments. Yet something had changed. Here, she was not only moving on from her fiance's tragedy much quicker, but she was also actively being a friend to Dr. Garrick. Perhaps he'd misjudged when to bring Dr. Garrick into the fold. Whatever had happened, he needed to curb this and quickly. Or, perhaps, maybe he should let this thing between them snowball. It would definitely be a big enough explosion to throw the three of them into a state of desperation. He'd decide later after he had more information on Garrick.
For now, he watched the two of them say goodnight and plan to meet the following day.
Caitlin and Jay, Wednesday, 9:30 am
"I still can not believe they ticketed your car," Jay told her as he carried their boxes down the stairs.
"That's what happens when a car is parked there for almost 15 hours," Caitlin told him. She wasn't mad. Neither of them had really had the time to go pick it up. Besides, paying a fine was better than letting Kyle Nimbus keep killing people.
"I'm still sorry I didn't get it when I told you I would," he told her, as he focused on balancing the boxes he carried. They practically had a mind of their own. Having a doctorate in physics, one would have believed he could have found the balance points before placing them semi-haphazardly on top of one another.
"Please, it is not a huge deal," she assured him as she placed something of hers in another box. "Besides, we had to come by and pick up our stuff. May as well take care of this too."
"Dr. Garrick, Dr. Snow," they heard Detective West call. The two of them looked at him surprised before walking down the remainder of the stairs. "Just the people I was looking for. Going somewhere?"
"We're trying to get everything taken care of before we go," Caitlin told him with a smile. "I have to take care of a parking ticket quick. I left my car here overnight by accident."
"To be fair, I said I would get it but things got rather crazy yesterday," Jay told him.
"Yeah, don't worry about that. I took care of it," he told them, dismissing their worry.
"Oh? Well, thank you," Caitlin smiled as she caught the box that had been teetering on top for a while now.
"Sure thing," he said about as quickly before getting to his point. "Look, despite what happened yesterday, I think you both know a lot. A lot of stuff that could save a lot of people. I've cleared this with the boss upstairs and he thinks you two could be very valuable assets to the CCPD. I've been tasked with creating an anti-meta human task force and I have two seats with your names on them. You wouldn't be doing any of the fieldwork, maybe working with the CSI teams but you'd be set up with your own lab, access to any and all of our databases, parking spot," he gave a small laugh, "and a salary. Now we can't match your current salary, Dr. Garrick, however Dr. Snow, I think you'll find it'll be far more livable than your current paycheck. Now I know that this is a lot to take in so take the day, figure out if you want to join, get back to me around the end of the day tomorrow."
"Wow," Caitlin breathed.
"We will definitely consider it, sir," Jay told him.
"Call me Joe, everyone else does," he told them. "I'll see you later."
"See you later," Jay told him as Joe headed towards his office.
They looked to each other as the offer sunk in. Jay watched as Caitlin adjusted the box in her hands as her eyes clouded in thought. Her head turned to look him in the eyes once again. "What does this mean for the team?" she asked him, full of wonder and lingering questions.
Jay was at a loss himself. He hadn't expected this. His plan had revolved around working part-time at Mercury Labs and the other saving the city. Being a scientist for a police team hadn't even crossed his mind. Though being part of a police team didn't sound bad at all. Being a part of a team that took down unstable and dangerous metahumans was something he was already doing. This way they could do it legally with the help of local law enforcement. Doing what he did for a living. Being a change, keeping the city safe, being a hero for this crime-ridden city. It sounded like a dream job. Of course, this was a decision that he'd need to discuss with her and the team, "It means we have a lot to think about."
Well, that certainly took long enough. I have no idea when Episode 4 will be published. I have a little bit of the beginning, a flashback, and some plot together at the moment but at least now I can really begin to work on without worrying about never finishing this episode. I'm looking forward to the next chapter and I hope you all are too. 'Til then!